CVE-2026-16534 Import and export users and customers < 2.4.2 - Custom Role Privilege Escalation to Administrator via CSV Import
A low-privileged user can escalate to administrator or take over admin accounts via CSV import due to missing permission checks.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-16534?
CVE-2026-16534 is a critical vulnerability in Unknown Import and export users and customers, published on 3 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
The Import and export users and customers WordPress plugin before 2.4.2 does not enforce WordPress's role-assignment and per-user edit permissions during CSV import, allowing a user holding only the user-creation capability to create an administrator account and to overwrite an existing administrator's password or email.
Weakness: CWE-269
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-16534?
How do I fix CVE-2026-16534?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-16534 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2026-16534 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-16534 exists.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-xw98-5fp3-v7vg.